Week 12 & Prenatal Yoga

I forgot to include this picture about 2 weeks ago at Rachel & CC's birthday. Ms. Lenira is due next month. I'm in my Chinese NY outfit beside Tameeza (who's working on getting pregnant) and Sara G who's getting married Labor Day weekend.

I couldn't resist a picture of AG in his morning glory. It's been a rough week for him and he deserves so much more than me posting this picture ;). But how can I resist those curls and those eyebrows?

As for an updated picture of the belly - here it is. It's funny when people tell me they can barely see a bump when I feel so big already. I must have been in better shape than I thought.

Above is a bowl of steaming Pho... I've been eating Pho for the last 3 consecutive days and am now sick of it... but I know it'll lure me back. Pho has such a strong smell and taste, but subtle at the same time. The beef is thin enough that it doesn't make me sick, and the fresh basil, cilantro and lemon appeal to my discerning taste. I've even gotten AG into Pho. We found a great place in South SF, next to our dim sum find and only 10 minutes from our house. I also realize now why I'm still not cooking at home and eating out all the time. What I want to eat changes from moment to moment. The internal process goes something like this: hrm... I'm hungry and should eat but I don't x, y or z. After agonizing on the list of what I don't want, I still haven't figured out what I do want. 30 minutes to an hour goes by and I'm starving and end up having to make a decision bc I have to, and not because there's something that I really want to eat. So, preplanning is out of the question and cooking requires more preplanning than ordering out.

Here's not a very attractive picture of my underarms, but one I took yesterday because I wore my prenata yoga outfit and went to my first class. Hrm, I've gotten so lumpy. It was more than interesting to be in a small confining room with 14 other pregnant women all at various stages from 7 to 36 weeks. I'm not used to so much hormonal energy and I'm not a girly girl. I mistakenly thought the practice would focus on strengthening muscle tone and flexibility in preparation for the birth. Instead, it was more female/girly girl holding hands focu, more spirituality, breathing, and inward focus towards connection with the baby. For the first time, I focused on Baby G not as an embryo or a fetus but as a living being. I don't know why I hadn't consciously thought of Baby G in these terms until now. I talk as if I do, but I really hadn't until last night. It was an emotional realization.

On another note, work has been crazy but challenging. The scope of my responsibilties have expanded and I'm doing more of the vendor and strategic management of accounts. I'm in the thick of things (business and technology) and that's what's made a lot of difference for me. Even though it's been crazy, I'm liking it a lot more. My manager and I are on the same page for my career path... that I'll be able to hire people to do more of the negotiations while I'll be responsible for the strategic course, the vendor relationship, and understanding the big picture. This is what it's like to actually like what you do.

Heartburn 101

So pregnancy has given me 2 new experiences, frequent urination and heartburn. The former started about 4 days ago and the latter happened last night. I've been fortunate up to now not to have to make hourly bathroom trips. Not the case anymore. Now I'm getting up at least twice (if I'm lucky) a night. Yesterday AG and I were at Kaiser at our prenatal class, and even though I had just gone to the restroom, I could barely contain myself while waiting in line to give blood and provide a "clean catch" (as they call it). And I'm not drinking more water than usual (but I should).

But the more painful experience happened last night just before I headed out to the new mall to meet up with Padma for dinner. It started as a tight knot in my stomache that grew to small cramping pains in the chest. As the pain got more intense I started worrying about a possible miscarriage. By the time I met up with Padma and we were sitting down and ordering, I was doubled over in spasms of pain. It felt as if someone reached into my stomache/chest and was squeezing and twisting and punching a knot in there. Silly me, Padma reassured me that it was heartburn, a very bad case of it. I had never experienced heartburn in my life. Supposedly my earlier lunch of greasy chicken nuggets and super greasy onion rings were the culprit. I couldn't believe how painful it could be. Fortunately, the waitress recommended ginger ale, and within minutes of drinking it, the clenching pain began to fade and within another 15 minutes, it was gone. What a good piece of information to have. I've read so many things about pregnant women and heartburn, but misidentified acid reflux as heartburn. I'm sure that this won't be my first case of it (since I also love spicy food - another culprit), but I now have a cure.

The Tummy Tube

What a nice surprise to come home yesterday and see a package for moi! It's a tummy tube and a very cute maternity yoga outfit for my prenatal yoga classes, which are to begin next week at 12 weeks!

I've been wanting a tummy tube for a couple of weeks now since I've not been able to button my pants due to Baby G. And I'm wearing it today with my favorite pair of jeans. What a smart invention. Thanks Chris and Al! You are so sweet, and the yoga outfit is adorable and perfect timing. My first set of maternity outfits.

Later that evening I met up with Kerry for dinner at Weird fish on Mission at 18th. Most of their foods come from sustainable, and organic farms. We even tried the deep fried pickles. A little on the salty side. I had a weird salad, hot cumin endemama's and 2 fish tacos with mango salsa.

Week 11 - Hunger Pains

On Friday, I had an intense drive to find dim sum. Maybe I needed the protein. In my delirious state of hunger, I had forgotten that it was the weekend of the Lunar New Year and everyone was at the local Dim Sum palace. Thankfully, since I was eating alone, I was seated immediately and for the first time in the longest I could remember, I could barely wait for the servers to bring out the food. I was so hungry, my stomache actually hurt.

It's a good thing that dim sum has immediate gratification. I was reading in Jenny McCarther's "Belly Laughs" about how she was ready to kill a server while waiting for the bread to come out. I finally understood what she was talking about. It was such a shock to my system to want food, let alone to want food that badly, when in the last 3 weeks I had been avoiding it. After lunch, I felt so satiated, it was almost a high driving back into the office. AG and I went to Dim Sum again on Saturday. I guess I couldn't get enough. We found a great little place in South SF. Again, I was so hungry I couldn't talk and I think I scared AG a little as I was turning green in the car while he was driving.

Sunday we celebrated the Lunar New Year much differently from last year. It was just us and the pups. Leisurely morning, drive to grab lunch and then a nap afterwards. Watched some terrible movies and had dinner with Ronnie and Nicky in the evening. Monday AG and I took the pups to Dolores park for a good hour, sat in the sun sipping (hot chocolate for me) coffee before AG took off to spend the next 24 hours at work moving his office.

On Friday, I gave my dad the news and he was surprisingly ok with it. I just never know with my family sometimes. But I'm relieved that there's no issue. My mom will be back on the 27th - I'll give her a couple of days to recover from Vietnam before dropping the bomb.

Valentine's 2007 and Week 10

Yesterday AG and I got dressed up on a school night to check out Heineken's new restaurant - yet to grand open - on Clement and 26th (2512 Clement) called Clementine's. Very cute, to service Spanish, Italian and French tapas? Not sure. But definitely not Mediterranean nor Japanese says Heineken.

Caught up with Margo Keylargo and Mr. Maddison. Both have had a very rough 6 months.

We have also decided that it's finally safe to let the cat outta the bag and the little bump aka Baby G will be joining us September. Of course my parents don't know yet. But most of our close friends and AG's family do know.

As you can see, Baby G is already showing. That bump is not from having a big meal.
I wanted to be able to start blogging about this experience and provide a window for family members and close friends to know how the pregnancy is progressing. So to catch most people up on what's been happening:

The not-so-great-things about pregnancy (so far):
1. Have been nauseous the last 2.5 weeks. Haven't actually thrown up but dry heaved a couple of times in the morning (which is always fun).
2. Smell of food has made me green. Haven't been cooking, couldn't go to restaurants, eating only fruits. I can smell sugar from AG's candy bar from the passenger seat. Keen sense of smell - is interesting.
3. Bloated - potruding bloated stomache is quite uncomfortable even before eating, and after meals it's almost painful.
4. Restless, interrupted sleep - the Trooper is uanable to get everything done when she's unable to recharge the batteries. This has been more difficult on me than the not eating.
5. No drinking - parties and late night events don't sound as fun - when you're the only one who's sober.
6. Irritability, little patience - hormonal changes + lack of sleep + little food + bloating = grouchy me. Haven't gone postal on AG - but little things do seem bigger than usual.
7. Vitamin pills - I have to take 6 huge pills (they are organic and vegetable based) per day.

Things that have been awesome about pregnancy:
1. Nausea gone - only lasted 2.5 weeks (which is awesome compared to most women).
2. Bloated mostly gone - now it's just the belly.
3. Sleeplessness gone - getting deeper, longer sleep (except for occasional 4am whining from Sienna).
4. Drinking - not so bad when I found out that wine tastes like vinegar.
5. Irritability, little patience diminished - better sleep + more food + no bloatedness = happier me.
6. AG has stepped up and taken great attention and care of our well being - it's sweet.
7. Focus - has shifted from "living-life-day-by-day and enjoying-whatever-comes-along + partying many nights a week" to "long-term and figuring-out-how-to-create-home-life-social-balance on my-own-terms." (9-5 schedule is not part of the 5 year plan)
8. Realizing that we're creating life - and Baby G is both a part of AG and I. This one is easy to acknowledge but is difficult for me get my head wrapped around the science and biology of it all. Thanks to Grandma Karen, we now have 10 books about babies of which 4 are baby name books, one Jewish Baby Book, and some cool ones on the science/biology of creating life.
9. Glowing skin - my skin has never felt or looked better. I don't usually wear foundation, except for going out, and now I don't wear any going out at all either. Difference is, it looks like I do.

The interesting things about being pregnant:
1. I used to love meat and thought I'd be eating more meat when pregnant. Not so. I find most meats unbearable at the moment and enjoy tofu, veggies and lots of fruits still.
2. I am a McDonald's and fast food hater. I used to get nauseous just smelling the oils at Micky D's. I am now guilty of haven eaten there twice, in one week. It's the french fries, I can't help it. I've had french fries cravings for awhile now, and even though I hate that they use hydrogenated oils, they have the best tasting fries.
3. I'm already showing a bump at 10 weeks and actually both AG and I noticed the bump closer to 8 weeks. Thought I'd be like my Asian friends who didn't show until week 20.
4. I've had pickle cravings, but not sure if they are really cravings since I love pickles before. But I've not had the sugar and ice-cream and odd combinations... not yet anyways.

In summary, both AG and I are thrilled and excited about this new set of changes in our lives. I am a little bit more than mortified about the prospect of more needles and hospitals and the birthing process. I worry sometimes that I'll be too busy to maintain some semblence of myself and my social calendar (b/c my community is so important to me), and I dwell too often on whether I'll make a good parent. But mostly, I daydream about: (1) the crazy and colorful outfits I'm gonna put on Baby G, (2) the special bond between Baby G and us; (3) the tenderness of AG with Baby G; (4) the happiness Baby G will and has already given to us and our families/friends; and (5) the development of Baby G growing up in a unique community with diverse cultures and beliefs.